I always chuckle when I see this assertion. Big companies don't work this way. The R3 has likely been in the works for YEARS, as has the R1. They surveyed the pros who work in this space to find out what they wanted. Considering Sony is still a minor player in this space (professional sports), I doubt that the A1 was any consideration at all. Also, anyone who thinks the A9 was a surprise has clearly never worked at a multi-national. They all know what the other one us up to long before the products make it to market. Sure, small features can change, but the overall product is well known. Canon has their targets for each product and build cameras/lenses for each. Besides, if anything was envisioned at Canon as being a competitor for the A1, it was likely the R5. The R5 can do almost everything the A1 can do for $2500 less. That is how Canon has always operated. They market cameras at similar performance levels using different price points. If anyone was surprised, it was likely Sony with the R5 (though I'm sure they weren't). I would expect a dev announcement on the R1 to come before the end of this year if not with the R3.